Obviously the recession didn't help matters, but Suzuki automotive pulled out of North America because of botched product planning - period. The rebadged Daewoo products that GM foisted on them should have been yanked from the market as soon as GM left the partnership, if not sooner, and "real" Suzuki products should have been brought back in. The general public saw the Daewoo underneath and wasn't fooled by the Suzuki badge. The Kizashi (a genuine Suzuki) was actually pretty good, but was far too little, too late.
The Suzuki Swift that they sold in that era was the same as a Chevrolet Aveo which was a renamed Daewoo, and was widely scorned. At the same time, the real Swift sold elsewhere in the world was reported to be pretty good, but we never got it.